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Home What is Walsall's New Deal? Themes Area Map Newsletter Media Releases Staff Events New Deal Documentation Links Job Vacancies Contact Site Map |
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'ChTitt-ChTatt' is the monthly e-letter that aims to keep board members and stakeholders up to date on projects. 1. Employment, Skills and Business The government has at last published its consultation document on Benefit Reform (Green Paper). The Green Paper sets out long-term plans for benefits reform to be implemented by 2008. It is concerned mainly with measures designed to encourage and support Incapacity Benefits claimants and lone parents to take up employment, but also contains proposals for older workers and Housing Benefits reform. There are currently just over 2.7 million ill or disabled people claiming Incapacity Benefits (IB) amounting to about 7% of the population of working age population. The number of IB claimants has risen from about 0.7 million since 1979. The increase was steepest between the late 1970s and the mid-1990s. The growth in the number of IB claimants is due to a growth in claim durations, or to fewer people leaving benefits within the first 18 months of their claim. Currently just over half of the IB 'caseload' is for claims of more than five years' duration. The probability of leaving IB falls as the duration of the claim rises. There are at least 150,000 IB claimants in every region, which means it is a national issue. A third of new claimants cite a mental health condition as the primary cause of their incapacity. Over a third of new claimants come onto IB from other benefits such as Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance. The proposed reforms are based in part on the experience acquired through delivering the New Deals and Pathways to Work pilots. The Pathways to Work pilots in particular have shown that a co-ordinated approach to supporting people with health problems or disabilities in returning to work is more effective in reducing benefits dependency than merely compensating individuals for their disadvantages. Proposals for reform are underpinned by a proposed new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) intended to simplify the current system. From 2008, this new integrated, contributory and income-related allowance will replace IB and Income Support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claimants. It will be paid to most people in return for undertaking work-related interviews, agreeing an action plan, and, in some cases, participating in some form of work-related activity. There are currently 1.8 million Lone Parents in Britain, the vast majority are women. In spring 2005, just over 56% of lone parents were in work, the highest rate on record in Britain. Nonetheless, the number of lone parents out of work and claiming Income Support remains high, both historically and in comparison with some other countries. Lone parents are much less likely than partnered parents with children of the same age to be in work. New proposals include:
In this paper, it is proposed to:
The paper highlights a number of decisions that must be taken about the scheme, including:
Once the consultation period is over (26th April 2006) The government will take comments in preparing a White Paper which will be then taken forward to form legislation towards the end of 2006. The question for the NDC is will there be any gaps which we can fill to assist residents through the process. Further updates will be given as the process unfolds. More information contact Bob Crundwell 01922 712858 2. Education & Learning Access to Learning in the Community (ALICE) is a new project, being delivered in partnership with the College of Continuing Education from the 1st January. The College is collaborating with ContinYou, a Community Education Charity, that is also contracted from 1st January to deliver two projects; one is Outreach Adult and Community Learning and the other is concerned with skills for life - help with reading and writing, with arithmetic and leading into skills for work and for life. It is still early days but a "Learning Office" has been identified at the Blakenall info Centre and will provide a base in the area for Community Learning. Jan Owen from ContinYou (and formerly a Learning Champion Co-ordinator) and Pauline Pegram from the College will be contactable on 01922 654510. They are both still recruiting, getting established and contacting existing clients. The Blakenall Village Centre hosted a week of events from Monday 30th January onwards, with a Fun Day on Saturday, 4th February which was successful. Also through the Approval process is a small (cost) project with a big impact. For many months the Education Theme has been working on the development of a project to obtain data to better inform our work with schools. The Data Project has so far given us a booklet containing information on the performance of pupils in "New Deal Primary Schools" and enables us to compare performance over 2 years and with Walsall and national figures. This is useful. It shows that we are still some way behind the rest of the borough and that performance in 2005 was down on performance in 2004. It also shows a continuing decline in the take-up of free school meals, an indicator of poverty, so things appear to be improving there at least. The next stage is to take the level of data down to the pupils of our area. This will create a "virtual school" which we can compare with the borough and nationally. It will also give us a much better opportunity to understand what is going on for our pupils and to target our interventions better. Further research will also be possible, again to enable us to do better. The extra costs are for this extra work, above and beyond what Education Walsall is already doing for New Deal. The work was showcased in the West Midlands at a seminar sponsored by SELD and RegenWM, with colleagues from other NDC's favourably impressed. Nest work is concerned with the development of the schools projects, for Primary and Secondary, and a project to assist 16+ year olds who are not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs). More information contact Bob Marsh on 01922 712858 3. Housing and Environment Bellway are due on the two sites opposite the church on Blakenall Heath and the Walker Road site shortly. Work on the Taylor Avenue site is progressing at a rapid rate. The sales office has opened on this site in the last few weeks. The development of the 'Homebuy' scheme is ongoing and work is being done on putting together a contract with Mercian. Work has commenced with Mercian to develop the marketing of the scheme with a view to a potential launch and mail out around June or July. The Housing and Environment Theme agreed at the last meeting to purchase a new road sweeper through the BLEAP 2 project and an order has been placed. Work has commenced on the first phase of the Leamore Park improvements and the Canal Towpaths project with completion for both due by April. The H&E Theme agreed at the last meeting for initial design proposals for Leamore centre and a Blakenall phase 2 improvements to go out to consultants to get detailed designs and costing for the schemes which are expected to be completed by June / July. Environmental improvements at Severn Road Open Space have been completed. Improvements are mainly landscaping with grassed earth mounds, new bulb, shrub and tree planting and wooden bollards around the perimeter. A couple of dead trees and tree stumps were removed and there was some pruning of the existing trees. Groundwork Black Country are currently working on the Church Street Open Space. This includes re-surfacing footpaths, installation of a perimeter trip rail fence, vehicle bollards, bulb and tree planting. The work should be completed by the beginning of April. The poor condition of Cemetery Way, the track that leads from Park Road to the Cemetery was raised by local residents and councillors. The track is a well used pedestrian route to local shops and Bloxwich Junior School. Work. Work has begun with new kerbing installed in mid-January with, new macadam surfacing works having been completed. The Canal Access Improvement Project will improve the quality of the environment along a 1.1 kilometre length of the Wyrley and Essington Canal, between Teece's Road Bridge and Goscote Works Bridge. Presently the canal has poor access and the towpath is narrow, overgrown and poorly drained. This project will enable residents to access the canal towpath, allowing access for the disabled and people with poor mobility. The canal is an under utilised resource and the improvements would provide a quality recreational, leisure and health walking route. This project will deliver 1,100 metres of refurbished towpath 1.5m wide, three existing motorcycle barriers would be repaired and renewed where necessary with Radar lock gates installed for disabled access and hard paved, three access points adjacent to the bridges with improved pedestrian accesses and graffiti removal from five bridges. This would also include a stepped access ramp with hand rail at Livingstone Road Bridge which was a delayed BLEAP2 project. Walsall Council is project managing the initiative and has sub-contracted the project to British Waterways.
Work began on Tuesday 11th January and will continue until April 2006. The Blakenall Heath Shopping Centre Play Area is now complete; the service provision is subject to a service level agreement between NDC and Walsall Council. Installation of permanent doors on the Blakenall Heath Shopping Centre Toilets is now complete. An official "opening" of the Blakenall Heath Shopping Centre to celebrate the completion of all the work there is being organised with the local traders for Good Friday, 14th April 2006. The briefs for Blakenall Village Phase Two and Leamore Environmental Improvements are now complete and we are seeking advice from Procurement Services at Walsall Council. An application has been submitted for Local Transport Plan funding for both the brief and the implementation stage of the works. More information from Steve Pooni 01922 712858 4. Crime and Community Safety Welcome to two new team member Inspector Mandy McPhee our new Crime Theme Leader who is replacing Angie Kelly; and PC. Simon Forscutt who is taking over from PC. Allie Wilkins as our new Schools Liaison Officer. Craig Smith has been appointed as the new Blakenall Sergeant. From April 2006, the NDC will have their own dedicated Beat Team of a Sergeant plus 10 officers. The team will be based at the BiC. They will be working closely with us and the rest of the community. More information contact Inspector Mandy McPhee on 01922 712858 5. Health and Well Being Statistical findings from the New Deal Health Strategy were presented to the Health Theme and New Deal board members on Tuesday 10th January 2006. David Wigley of Public Management Associates (PMA) is working on mapping and scoping local health delivery in our area to ascertain what services / projects New Deal could provide to enhance the health and well-being of residents in the area. Jeff Chandra of PMA has interviewed the New Deal resident Board Directors to receive their views, in terms of what they see as priorities for health in the area. The strategy should be completed by the end of March 2006.
Sports Delivery
Interviews for the New Deal / Addaction Drugs Aftercare Project the staff team has taken place and a full team has been selected. During the staff induction period we will be out and about in the area giving the team the opportunity to meet members of the community and those who work for other agencies within our area. Negotiations are under way to prepare the premises at the Blakenall Village Centre where the project will be permanently based. The next meeting of the Project advisory committee is scheduled for 23rd March 2006 and will be held at the Blakenall info Centre. More information contact Harjinder Singh 01922 712858 6. Community Empowerment The Young Person's Liaison Team have arranged a 'drop in' Chill Chat Café at the Blakenall Village Centres' Horizon Restaurant on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5.30pm - 7.30pm. Young people who are over 12 can attend to chat to their friends and listen to music in an informal setting. The team are there for support. On 23rd November for 4 weeks, the youth team worked with 8 young people and the chef at the Horizons Restaurant. The young people learned new skills such as cooking, table skills, basic food and hygiene, health and safety. The young people will be cooking and presenting a meal for our Board Members shortly. The team continues to work in partnership with the local police on Wednesday evenings from 6.00pm - 9.00pm on Bloxwich High Street and surrounding areas. Each Tuesday from 4pm till 5pm, the youth team work along side the tPCT to provide smoking cessation for young people. At present there are 6 young people who are committed to stopping smoking. Following on from the success of the youth pages in 'ChTatter', the youth team are now working on a young person's magazine. The young people write articles for other young people on issues that concern them. Neighbourhood Nature Valley Nursery has had its front playground transformed into a street scene with roads, signs, zebra crossing, it even has its own bus stop. Pupils of the nursery are enjoying their new playground. The first Wildlife After School Project (WASP) has started at Christchurch School. The first project is concerned with recycling and litter. WASP cover a broad range of environmental issues and aim to increase awareness of children and of their impact upon the local environment. WASP are delivered in partnership with local schools, and are designed to be fun and interactive with outcomes not only for the pupils involved but also for the school. If anybody would like more info on WASP then please get in touch. New Deal sent four resident board members to the Urban Forum, Regeneration Conference 2005 in Liverpool on the 6th and 7th December. The conference was based around four themes Cultural, Economic, Social, and Environmental, and looked at the links between these four aspects of the regeneration process. The conference offered our resident board members to meet other board members from around the country, along with regeneration professionals. There were many workshop sessions over the 2 days, for delegates and opportunities for networking. Nominations for election to the New Deal board were received from all ten patches; 4, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22; eight candidates were unopposed, patches 11 and 12 were opposed. The election count was at the Blakenall Village centre on 2nd December 2005. In attendance Dick Hackett, Doug Gill resident board member and vice chair. The process was overseen by Jo Lowndes of Walsall Council. The successful candidates were congratulated and welcomed to the Board, as new Board Directors at this event. For more information about patch elections contact Michelle Parry at the Blakenall info Centre on 01922 711858. The Walsall Gypsy and Travellers Forum is making good progress. The group formally known as the `Gypsy and Travellers Forum` recently became constituted adding `Walsall` to their name. The Forum's main aims and objectives aim to benefit Gypsies and Travellers living and working in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and its surrounding areas. The Forum is charitable and for the benefit of Gypsies and Travellers, and works to relieve poverty, sickness and distress, advance education and promote the provision of services to meet the needs of all Gypsies and Travellers in such ways that will achieves these objectives. Walsall's Gypsies and Travellers Forum, for more information contact The Community Involvement Team on 01922 711858. Congratulations to The Destiny project, Heath House, Midland Strollers, Leamore Forum, Leamore and Blakenall Senior Citizens, and Christchurch Parents Group, who received funding from the Accorn Fund. The Accorn fund continues to provide a valuable source of support to new and established groups, providing voluntary, and community activities for the benefit of residents of the area. For more Information about the Accorn Funding contact Victor Shaw at the Blakenall info Centre. More information contact Michelle Parry 01922 711228 Communications Diary Dates The 20th edition of 'ChTatter' is now being prepared with distribution taking place mid week of March. 'ChTitt - ChTatt' 25th edition the deadline will to be 12.00hrs Thursday 6th April. More information contact either Andy Bradley or Sally Gamston 01922 712858 If you know of an organisation or individual that would like to receive 'ChTitt - ChTatt' please forward their email address to Andy Bradley on bradleya@walsall.gov.uk or Sally Gamston on gamstons@walsall.gov.uk Walsall's New Deal for Communities, New Deal : New Horizons is registered as a company limited by guarantee with Companies House registration number 04582937 and as a charity with the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales registration number 1098036. 'serving the areas of Blakenall, Bloxwich and Leamore' |
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